Top 10 Gaming Trends That Pissed Everyone Off

VO: Riccardo Tucci
WRITTEN BY: Scott Stratton
Even the most casual of Gamers hated these ones! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Gaming Trends That Pissed Everyone Off.
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Why can’t we go back to the good ol’ days? Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Gaming Trends That Pissed Everyone Off.

For this list we’ll be looking at the trends and innovations that the majority of the gaming public has some serious problems with.

#10: Binary Moral Choice Systems

Morality is an incredibly difficult subject to cover so much so that even the greatest minds today are still trying to figure it out. So the fact that so many games, like “Infamous” for example, boil down morality to either “you’re an angel sent from heaven” or “you’re pretty much Satan himself” is a bit disappointing. There’s no moral grey area for these games and more often than not you get punished for not adhering to a singular moral path. Why can’t dialogue choices have more nuances to them? Hopefully one day we’ll have a game that does moral choices right.

#9: Perpetual Early Access

Some might claim that early access in general is a bad practice due to players giving money to something that is essentially incomplete. While the idea is interesting – to help fund the development of the game and get to play an early version – there’s a serious problem regarding games that just… never come out of early access. Sometimes you’ll get a game that’s decently playable but rarely, or sometimes never, receives another update. At the worst of times, the developer takes the money and runs, leaving fans high and dry with a subpar product.

#8: Open Worldification

There’s nothing more exciting than being dropped into a huge world and slowly uncovering its secrets as you meander around. The problem is that there are very few games that actually nail the open world concept. There are a ton of games out that eschew linear level design in favour of an open world but don’t fill that world with anything interesting. What you get instead is a boring over-world filled with quest hubs where you’re pretty much railroaded onto a single path anyway. Sometimes you get to choose between different “zones” but they all lead to the same conclusion anyway.

#7: Annual Releases

There’s no doubt that developing a game takes a lot of time and effort to pull off. The typical development time for an AAA game is anywhere from 2 to 3 years depending on the scope of the project. However there are some franchises, such as a certain famous first-person shooter, that has moved towards more quantity over quality. The result is only a year between sequels, each one more boring, uninspiring, and glitch filled than the last. Thankfully, some companies like Ubisoft realized this folly and have switched back to regular development times. Take your time, developers, we’re not going anywhere!

#6: Games As A Service

It’s no secret that the gaming industry has, for the most part, shifted away from single player games towards a more multiplayer focused experience. Big studios such as EA and Activision have put a lot of emphasis on “games as a service” where the player can expect to keep playing a certain game for an indefinite amount of time thanks to things like progression unlocks, microtransactions, and DLC. Games like “Destiny”, “The Division”, and even the oldies like “World of Warcraft” are built around keeping the player hooked as much as possible. It essentially creates a constant cash flow but we still want our single player games!

#5: Microtransactions in Full-Priced Games

Video gaming can be an expensive hobby. Whether it’s buying a new console, building a new PC, or just picking up a new release you can expect to drop some serious cash. The fact that some games add in small purchases on top of an already expensive price tag is pretty scummy. Granted, these are optional purchases and they tend to not be that expensive, but why can’t we go back to when things like cosmetics and hidden weapons were part of the package and were unlockable either through cheats or your own hard work?

#4: Season Passes

The premise behind season passes is that you pay a certain amount upfront to access any and all future DLC that releases for a game. Usually the season pass is actually the cheaper option to get rather than buying the DLC as they come out, but there’s a certain risk involved in doing so. Sure, you’re not forced to buy a season pass but you’re pre-ordering bite-sized content that you don’t even know if it’s worth it or not. Sometimes you’ll get a meaningful expansion to your favourite game; other times you’ll get a map and some skins.

#3: Exclusive Pre-Order Content

Pre-order content is not necessarily a bad thing as there can be good bonuses such as an early beta access or even some material goods that don’t impact the core game, or lock people out of content. It’s when that content is only available during the pre-order period that it becomes a problem. Even if it’s just cosmetics, it’s kind of a scummy move if they’re not unlockable for everyone else after the fact. It gets even worse when certain bonuses are store or console exclusive, forcing you to either choose your favourite or double dip for them.

#2: Motion Controls

Who wouldn’t want to actually be swinging a sword or tossing a bomb rather than just pressing a button input and watching your character do it? It’s a great idea on paper, but if only we actually got that instead of gimmicky games and poor detection leading to either unintended actions or no actions at all. The worst is that some consoles, like the Wii, had amazing games that were ruined by janky motion controls. Even the VR craze had some cool ideas but just never really took off. Hopefully in the future we can get that feeling of actually being our characters rather than just watching them.

#1: Loot Boxes

We all know the pain of watching that loot box explode in “Overwatch” only to receive three sprays and a duplicate skin. It’s no wonder why loot boxes have such a negative reputation within the gaming community, who wants to spend their money on a random chance? Well, a lot of people unfortunately which is why we see loot boxes in almost every major online multiplayer game. While there are some games that let you buy the skins or items you want with either in-game or real world currency, there are others where a loot box is the only way to unlock additional content, and that’s just unforgivable.